Women's Bowling

Bowlers Start Fast, End Up Eighth At Virginia Union

(Photo of Kristine Verbeke by Steven R. Smith)

Nov 04, 2018

GLEN ALLEN, Va. – The Felician University women's bowling team finished in eighth place out of 19 teams at the Virginia Union University Invitational, staged from Friday through Sunday at Bowl America. Felician turned a 5-8 record in dual matches for the weekend.

The Golden Falcons' top individual performance came from junior right-hander Kristine Verbeke (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley). In the line-up as a starter during all five traditional team matches on Saturday, Verbeke started her day with games of 198 and 197. Her total of 903 pins (180.6 average) left her in 19th place out of 123 competitors who made at least one start.

The familiar tournament format called for five 5-game Baker matches on Friday, and five traditional team matches on Saturday. The teams were then seeded into a playoff bracket for three best-of-7 Baker matches on Sunday.

Felician (13-22) started the tournament strong, shooting a school-record 1017 (203.4 average) in Friday's first match to defeat No. 13 nationally-ranked Saint Francis (Pa.) University. Sophomore Jen Ingulli (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) led off for the unit, while junior Nicole Aumack (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) bowled the anchor leg. The Golden Falcons shot 4 of 5 games over 200, including 222 in Game 1 and 231 in Game 3.

While not again matching those scoring eights, the Golden Falcons went 3-2 on Friday, alternating wins and losses. They also defeated Wilmington (Del.) University, 845-776, and New Jersey City University, 866-691. They averaged 173.5 for the 25 traditional games.

Felician, however, slumped to a 1-4 performance and a team average of 164.5 on Saturday. No member of the Golden Falcons shot 200 or better; Verbeke's two opening scores were her team's best of the day, followed by a 196 by Ingulli. Felician defeated Mount Aloysius College, 869-804, to split the day's first two matches, then suffered a 16-pin setback to Chestnut Hill College en route to dropping the final three of the day.

Still, the Golden Falcons were seeded eighth in the playoff bracket. After a loss to Howard University and a triumph over Chestnut Hill, Felician suffered a loss in the seventh-place match to No. 20-ranked Duquesne University, four games to three.

Individually, Aumack was the only Golden Falcon other than Verbeke to be started in all five traditional matches. She shot 848 (169.6 average) to finish 34th. Two other Felician right-handers made four starts. Ingulli was 58th (685, 171.3) while freshman Deanna Calantoni (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge) ended up in 72nd place (595, 148.8).

No. 9-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson University defeated Saint Francis, 4-1, in the event's championship match. FDU was 11-0 in duals for the weekend, while SFU went 9-3. No. 12 Sacred Heart University finished third, followed by Mount St. Mary's University (Md.).

Felician was competing for the third consecutive weekend. The Golden Falcons are now off until Nov. 30, when they begin the three-day Wildcat Invitational, hosted by Wilmington in New Castle, Del.